Callum gets Olympic call-up

Marlborough’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2020, cyclist Callum Saunders, is now an Olympian.

The 25-year-old stepped onto the Tokyo 2020 stage last night as part of the New Zealand team sprint trio who raced off for 7^th and 8^th positions. Callum was the finishing rider alongside lead-off Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell as they accounted for Poland at the Izu Velodrome.

Callum travelled to Japan as the men’s sprint team reserve but replaced Sam Dakin in the line-up last night and is expected to race in his favoured event, the keirin, at the weekend.

He follows in the Olympic footsteps of his great grandfather Charlie Saunders, who competed in rowing at the 1932 Los Angeles Games.